Inside a Bar

Lauren curiously followed Nikol through the buzzing nocturnal city. Eventually, they stopped at an elegant bar near the riverside.

"Here we are." grinned Nikol. "Ta-da!"

Lauren conveyed the place with great interest. Elegant may not have been a strong enough word. The place looked extremely posh.

"I don't think this place is for you, darling." she said disdainfully.

"Oh, geez. You are just saying that." joked Nikol, acting like it had been a compliment.

"I mean, dressed like that," she pointed at Nikol's way too casual streetwear, "they would throw you out within a heartbeat."

"I know." she grinned, her eyes filled with excitement. "Duh. That's why I came here with you."

"Excuse me?"

"They would not dare to throw you out of a place like this. Not even if you arrived with a camel. If anything, they would pay you to show up every night. Believe me, I would." she winked at her. "And I may have camel toes," she jokingly grabbed her crotch through the tight jeans, "but I ain't no camel."

"You want to embarrass me?"

"Come on! Don't tell me you haven't been to places like this."

Well, actually she really had been to places like that. Not that often, but she preferred them over bars full of high school 'cheerleaders'. Plus she had met quite a few men at places like this. Men they were still, but at least not like the young, horny jocks who expected to get in her panties on the night they had met. At least that was what she believed - to the displeasure of all those horny men.

"I see that glint in your eyes." Nikol snapped her out of her moment of nostalgy. "Your body is ready for the excitement. Let's go." and she grabbed her hand and hauled her into the place.

It was a Saturday night, so naturally the place was filled. With both men and women of the upper class. There was a small jazz band playing on the stage in the middle. The air inside was filled with the smell of expensive perfume and cigar smoke. As soon as they entered, Lauren could feel the hungry or jealous gazes she was used to, but she dared not meet any of those eyes as Nikol strode to a nearby table and immediately broke the momentary silence.

"Can me and my friend get a little room here?" she asked rudely. Despite the shocked look of most everyone, two men who were alone politely moved aside, freeing their table for the newly arrived pair. "Much appreciated!" She turned back to Lauren, "Hey, I conquered us a table! Sweet, eh?" she grinned proudly.

Lauren could immediately feel her cheeks burning. Their arrival had quite an impression on those gathered around. She turned her gaze to the floor as she moved to the table. "Tune down a bit, will you." she whispered to Nikol as she sat down. "Not everyone is interested in hearing us."

"Oh, I wouldn't bet on that." smiled Nikol sassily. "Check this." And with a heavy grunt, Nikol stretched her arms in the air, pushing out her modest breasts, and yelled, "Ugh, why does the bar have to be so far away. My friend and I could kill for a drink right about now."

The implication of that cheeky act was obvious to everyone around. Lauren has never felt so embarrassed in her entire life. Though she had a feeling this was only the beginning. She nervously checked her phone in a vain attempt to look busy in case someone was looking her way. And of course she knew half the bar was looking at her and her outspoken companion. Some may have found it funny, but most found it outrageous. She dared not look up until she noticed the barman walking to their table. Oh, god. Here we are. This is where they throw us out. But to her surprise, that was not the case.

"Ladies. The two gentlemen at the bar send you these." he said, holding two bottle of liquoir in his hands.

Lauren glanced up and saw one of the men at the bar giving her a nod with a polite smile. The gesture was not new to her, though not in her wildest dreams would she have ever used such a rude method. She shot him a shy smile back before Nikol attracted her attention again.

"Sweet, free booze." she snatched the bottles out of the barman's hands. "Thanks!" she yelled towards the bar, blowing a kiss to no one in particular.

"Don't ever do that again." scolded her Lauren, still beet red from the embarrassment.

"Come on! You may be used to this, but people would never send me shit in such a fancy place. Let me enjoy the experience." she shot back, sipping from the glass the barman had just filled. "And I bet if you had done it, we would have gotten something even more expensive." she said while inspecting the labels on the bottles. "Men just love bouncy tits like yours."

For the next half an hour, the night calmed down a bit. They have been chatting and sipping their 'free booze', and Nikol hadn't done anything outrageous to attract any unwanted attention to them. Her outfit and mere presence still stood out like a sore thumb in the posh bar, but nobody seemed to care. Especially since she was in the presence of the highlight of their evening: Lauren.

"That bloke's eyeing you, ya know." said Nikol, nodding towards the bar.

"I - I know. And the other one is eyeing you."

"What? You're shitting me. Really?" she grinned excitedly. "I have never been eyed before. Well, not while dressed anyway..." she glanced towards the bar. "Which?"

Lauren tried to ignore that last part. She must have heard it wrong. "The... the one in the brown jacket."

Nikol looked then turned back again. "The old fart? Oh man!" she sighed disappointedly.

"Come on, he is not that old." Lauren tried to defend the poor guy. "He is probably in his 30s." Or 40s, she added in her mind. "Lots of experience."

"Pfft, yeah. Right. And how old do you think I am? He has mutton chops for crying out loud. Looks like someone straight out of my history books. All he needs is a freaking Confederate jacket..." she shuddered. "Anyway, back to your loverboy. How about him?"

"I don't know. He looks nice." she glanced at the man who has been eyeing her ever since they'd arrived.

"He sent the wine, yes? I wonder what she expects in return." she gave Lauren a naughty wink.

"Don't be so rude. He might just want to get to know me better."

"You'd like that, eh?" she licked her lips, looking Lauren up.

"I don't know what you mean, and I don't want to know. And don't give me that dirty look of yours."

"He kinda looks like a psycho, though." she added nonchalantly.

"What? Why?"

"Dunno. Those eyes creep me out. Walk in the park with a BJ? Maybe. A ride to his place alone? No thanks." she shuddered. "I've got a family who would want my body found mostly in one piece."

"You are just seeing things." Lauren waved those ideas away while taking a sip from her drink.

"Could be. Wanna talk to him?"

"And leave you poor thing here alone? What kind of friend would I be?"

"I can endure General Mutton Chops until you seduce the Psycho. What kind of friend would I be if I couldn't, eh?" Nikol shot back with a sneer.

"Maybe later."

"OK. But just so you know, I'm still up for a switcheroo, if you change your mind." she cackled.

"Behave yourself and I will think about it." she replied. Not likely, though.

At one point, Nikol started coughing very theatrically, like she was on the verge of suffocating. Just when Lauren was about to ask whether she was alright or not, she turned to a man at the nearby table, "Hey, pal. Would you mind stubbing that *cough, cough*." she pointed at the cigar in the man's hand. "I'm dying over here *cough, cough*."

The man raised an eyebrow, but after a glance at the blushing Lauren, he stubbed his cigar with a nod and a polite smile.

"Thanks. You're a lifesaver." winked Nikol before turning back to Lauren. "That's a $50 cigar ruined, tee-hee. I love this place."

"You are horrible." said Lauren, despite giggling herself. She didn't usually act like this.

"I know." Nikol took it as a compliment. "Speaking of horrible, have you seen that woman in the red dress?"

"Yes. Yes, I did." She did remember. Anyone dressed like that at a place like this, would definitely want to be the centre of attention.

"I bet she thought she owned the place until you arrived, tee-hee. Just look at her face. Someone's jelly."

"I have no intention of competing with her." she said, though she did like the jealous looks she got from her. And she didn't have to compete. It was out of the question which one of them would win.

"If you haven't noticed yet, you are the alpha female in this bar and everyone should know it. If she doesn't relent, it's time for a show of power, tiger." she gave her a mischevious growl.

"I'm not going to fight anybody." Not that she couldn't have beat her, of course.

"I meant it as a... as a... whatever. Not literally." she stammered. "You know, like in the movie when that chick pushed that other chick into the pool."

"This is life, not some silly movie. I think you have had enough drinks for tonight." she lectured her friend.

"No it's..." Nikol stopped abruptly while looking Lauren in the eyes. "I think I'm gonna puke." she announced while holding a hand in front of her mouth. Then she shot up and ran to the restroom.

"Told you..." said Lauren to nobody in particular. She could also feel the **** in her head, and it was only a matter of time before Nikol had to as well. Considering she had drank most of both bottles. Though for a moment, she thought she was the only one feeling its effects. That was an uneasy thought.

Moments later when Nikol was returning, she shot Lauren a wink with a wicked grin, before taking a detour towards the woman in red. Lauren immediately felt something bad was about to happen, but she was too far away to intervene. And frankly, she didn't want to. As horrible as it may seem, she was eager to see what Nikol had in mind. What was happening to me? she wondered.

As Nikol was passing the woman in red, she 'accidentally' bumped into her table, masterfully splashing a glass of red wine on the woman's dress near her crotch. "Oh, I am so sorry!" she put on a horrible act of sincerity. "Let me help you." she said while spreading the wine on her dress with a napkin under the pretense of help.

The woman looked furious, but she thought better not to make a scene and draw any attention to herself with a stained dress. "No... It's... It's okay... Don't!" she stammered.

"You should go, get some cold water on it, honey. Before it leaves a stain." And once the woman left for the restroom, Nikol gave Lauren a triumphant thumbs up. A thumbs up that made everyone in the bar know that it was clearly not an accident.

"'You should get some cold water on it before it leaves a stain?' You are horrible." laughed Lauren when Nikol returned. Despite how awful of an act it had been, she genuinely found it hilarious. That night, she was clearly under the spell of the little naughty vixen.

"I know, tee-hee. Now you are the undisputed Queen of the Bar." she sat down. "Not like you weren't before, if you ask me. Uh, and I can be your Hand. You know, like that dwarf in that show."

"Well, you've already got the size for it." teased Lauren with a sneer.

"Don't even." she held up a finger threateningly while giving Lauren a menacing look.

Lauren already knew that Nikol was sensitive about her height - even though she was not that short - and often teased her. Eventually, they always laughed it out. This time, Lauren did notice that Nikol didn't look too bad considering she had just left to puke. "What happened to you? I thought you were sick."

"What? From these?" she pointed at the empty bottles. "Pfft. Don't be ridiculous, sweety. I just needed a reason to circle around the red witch for Operation Grapefall. It takes some real **** to get me sick."

Obviously, Lauren had underestimated Nikol's endurace. Not only was she not sick, she was showing less signs of the ****'s effects than herself. But she surely would. Eventually, she thought.

"Speaking of which." said Nikol while standing up. "It's time to requisition round two from the General." she smiled.